An Incoming Storm
by Bunnylass
Summary: One-shot. Set after Twilight. Jesse POV. Having dealt with a violent ghost, a storm rolling in and a very angry Suze, Jesse isn't having a very good night. Until everything changes with one simple kiss. Please read and review.


_**Disclaimer: **_The Mediator belongs to Meg Cabot.

_**Rating:**_ T

_**Summary:**_ One-shot. Set after Twilight. Jesse POV. Having dealt with a violent ghost, a storm rolling in and a very angry Suze, Jesse isn't having a very good night. Until everything changes with one simple kiss. Please read and review.

_**A/N:**_ Just a little story that came to me last night after listening to a song. I've also been craving to write something canon with Suze and Jesse too, so now I feel better. I hope you enjoy, please review! Also, please excuse the bad title and summary, those two completely eluded me! I think my brains got to mush. :) Much love.

* * *

_**An Incoming Storm**_

"Susannah, stop!"

I called out her name with little patience, aware of the late hour and the many homes no doubt sleeping peacefully as I passed them. My long strides hurrying to catch up with her as she stomped her way down the quiet, dark street leading her home. Her heavy black boots thudded harshly against the unforgiving pavement as her steps increased with speed and strength hearing my voice. Her back had gone rigid with, her hands in tight fists swinging at her sides as she refused to turn back to acknowledge me. She's been angry with me before, but this occasion appeared to be one of the strongest yet. But I was not giving up on her that easily.

I know exactly why she is so enraged, but unfortunately her reasons have only served to ignite my frustration and ire too.

Narrowing my eyes determinedly, I picked up my pace, my long legs filling the distance between us in seconds as I reached her side and frowned down at her. Still she refused to look at me, but I could see her breaths coming fast and erratic as the air puffed out in front of us. I know her well enough to know that it was not because she was breathless from walking so fast, but rather to do with her temper being passively directed at me right then. Having had enough of chasing her down the street when all I wanted to do was go home and rest, my body and mind exhausted from our latest spirit in need of help, I clutched her elbow in my large hand and made her come to a stop.

"Get your hands off me," Susannah snarled the moment my touch made contact with her through her dark leather jacket. But it had the reaction I was searching for, making her stop and spin to glare up into my hard eyes. Thankfully we stopped near a street light so I was able to stare down into her sparkling green gaze - so full of anger - without hindrance. I knew I appeared in shadow to her, but it did not stop her from shooting sparks of rage at me. "Just leave me alone, I don't want to be anywhere near you right now."

Surprised to hear her say that, it only served to spark my outrage brighter.

"Tough, I'm not allowing you to walk home alone at this time." I growled, crossing my arms over my chest and standing up straighter in the face of her temper.

Susannah sucked in a quick breath, her eyes narrowing to slits before she turned on her heel again and marched away from me, her steps impossibly hard on the pavement with each step she took. Dropping my arms and scrubbing a hand down my face I sighed and followed after her, catching her quick pace again without effort whilst silently berating myself for antagonizing her further than she already was. An apology was sitting on the tip of my tongue, but I could not bring myself to say it just yet. At least, not to apologize for the reasons of her fury in the first place.

I cannot apologize for wanting to protect her.

"I didn't need your help, I could do it alone. He came to me after-all," Susannah snapped, seeming to read my mind as she marched beside me, tension coming from her slender frame in waves. "It only got out of control when you tried getting involved, but I had a plan and it would've worked out fine if you and Father D had just left me to it." She sucked in quick breaths, working herself up the more she spoke and the memories of the past couple of days and hours swept over us both. I found it very hard to believe the truth in her words and suspected she did too, deep down.

Suppressing my urge to laugh unkindly, I looked to the very dark, star-less sky - a storm rolling in and hiding them from view - praying for patience. "You could have been hurt or worse tonight, Susannah. You should have passed him over to Father Dominic or me to help him move along straight away. He was dangerous from the beginning, you _know_ that." I replied, unable to keep the bite of frustration out of my voice. Susannah, Father Dominic and I have argued relentlessly about this issue for days and finally tonight it came to a conclusion in a way that could have been extremely dangerous for Susannah, despite Father Dominic and me trying to keep her away from it.

Almost a week ago a ghost came to Susannah asking for help. Only his help needed was not the usual kind a spirit comes to a Mediator for. This ghost was temperamental and instantly put my senses on high alert when I first met him. He didn't tell Susannah straight away, but his help required her to 'eliminate' someone from his life he had just left behind, taking Susannah too seriously when she said she could help him with whatever he needed. She thought he only wished to tell someone something, or make sure something he left behind was given to the right person. Not once did she think he would ask her to kill someone for him. Thankfully he didn't realize he could inflict trouble and harm just yet, his spirit seemingly had not progressed very quickly. But it had only been a matter of time.

Father Dominic and I insisted she allowed one of us to talk with him and help him to release his anger and need for retribution and revenge and to move on to a better place. But Susannah was adamant that she could talk with him and that she did not need to be protected, that it was not the first time she has had a ghost come to her asking for revenge. She had looked hurt and stubborn the more we insisted and I came close to speaking to her parents and having her be kept at home so I could go to the spirit tonight and help him to move on. Thankfully I didn't have to seek that route out and Susannah promised me that she would stay behind.

Of course, she did not do as she promised she would.

When I came to the cemetery Susannah had agreed to meet the relentless and angry spirit in, Susannah was already there and fully involved with trying to help the spirit to move on. Unfortunately for everyone involved that was the moment the spirit's temper showed its true power and he realized how much influence he really had at his disposal if he channelled it in the right way. My heart had beat painfully inside my chest as I watched him use his power to throw Susannah across the cemetery, her cries of surprise making my temper flare to life as I raced forward and tackled the spirit as he focused surprised eyes on what he had just done to Susannah.

He recovered from his shock very fast unfortunately and did his best to use his new-found capacity on me. But I was just as angry as he was by that point as I sunk my fist into his face, throwing him up against an old crumbling tombstone, my fore-arm trapping him there by his throat. Susannah had recovered from her shock by then and thankfully unharmed called out my name distracting me from the spirit. He used that to his advantage, using his 'gifts' to make me hover in the air as he focused on me with deadly intent. Susannah shouted and called from him to let me go, but it wasn't until she twisted the hairs on the back of his neck - something I have seen her do to Bradley many times - that he dropped me to the soft dewy grass of the cemetery and turn his attention to Susannah.

I cried out for her to run, to get away from him. But she did the one thing I have begged, commanded and insisted she never do again - she took the angry spirit by the arm and took him to the shadowland with her; her body crumbling to a silent, unconscious heap as I leaped forward to catch her as she fell into my arms, seemingly lifeless.

The blood ran cold in my veins as I gazed upon her pale, delicate face, devoid of expression or color. I held her across my legs, whispering her name, over and over again, my emotions trapped between fear for her being somewhere so cold, quiet and final - and a flared temper that she would do something so reckless and irresponsible in the first place. If she had just listened to us, if she had just accepted our help she would not have been hurt, I would not have been holding her small, precious body to my warm chest, waiting for her to wake up, praying and hoping that she would. When she took her first shuddering breath as she came back to me, I thanked God and crushed her to me, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.

Unfortunately my relief that she was OK was short-lived as my annoyance at what she had done came swiftly on the heels of that happiness.

Susannah and I didn't stand in the cemetery arguing for long before she stomped her way out of there and started to walk away from me at a rapid pace, refusing to speak or even acknowledge me. Until now, when her pride broke through her own anger and made her snap at me, clearly believing I have been interfering somehow. It is no secret I believe there are other ways and methods of helping spirits that ask for our help and in the year that I have been alive, she has adopted some of the ways I have too. But every now and again, her need to strive for independence and do it alone culminates in an evening when she could have been seriously hurt.

"Whatever, he's gone now anyway." Susannah replied, shooting me a thunderous look, her mood seeming to match the dark ominous clouds over-head. She shook her head in frustration, her silky chestnut hair swinging across the back of her shoulders in seductive waves. I tightened my hands into fists to stop myself from reaching out to run a calloused hand down it lovingly, my anger beginning to give way to tiredness and the need for a resolution between us. There is nothing I dislike more than to be arguing with Susannah and I know she feels the same way. But sometimes, her temper cannot be dulled quite so easily.

Growling slightly, I pulled Susannah to a stop again, ignoring her wrenching her arm out of my hand - again. "You should never have travelled to the shadowland, Susannah and you know that," I sighed again, running a shaking hand through my hair as the fear of watching her body collapse before me over-took my mind again. Suppressing a shudder that was not due to the cold, I looked down at her with a frown. "You know what Dr Slaski said, how dangerous it is to do it too much. You already travelled back in time, why do you insist on trying to hurt yourself in that way?" I asked, pleading for some kind of understanding as to what she was thinking.

The first drops of rain had started to fall around us, making Susannah unconsciously pull her leather jacket closer around her.

"I was trying to protect _you_!" She almost shouted back to me, a fire blazing in her eyes as her full pink lips pulled into a thin harsh line. "You're _welcome_ by the way! And for the record, I _know_ what Dr Slaski said, I _know_ what the side-effects are, how else did you expect that guy to just leave? He needed a nudge and I gave him one. He's gone; I'm here now nothing happened to me. So stop treating me like some little girl!" As she said the last word, a dark edge of fury to her tone, the Heavens opened above us, rain coming down in hard sheets, pelting the ground around us.

Looking up in disbelief, Susannah glared at me as though the rain was my fault. "Just perfect."

But I was not paying any attention to the rain, or her glares or the feel of the strong storm gathering speed as it got closer and closer to us. I was too stunned by her last angry statement, that I was treating her like a little girl. I blinked the rain drops out of my eyes and stared back at her in disbelief, my mind flashing images of the first time I watched Susannah mediate a ghost; remembering when she tried to protect Michael Meducci from the four angry spirits, despite the fact he had been trying to kill her. The way she cried at my bedside as she believed I was slipping away from her forever. My face flushed remembering the first time I kissed her, the overwhelming intensity of desire that touched every corner of my body and mind, how close I have come to wanting to feel Susannah's soft flesh further, feeling her shiver and moan at my touch.

She has no idea much it has cost me to stop and pull away no matter how much I wish to do more with her.

As each image and memory flashed through my mind, I tried to see just when she believed that I saw her as a little girl, rather than a beautiful, strong compassionate and desirable young woman that she is. I felt the last vestiges of my temper die away as Susannah shook her wet hair at me in annoyance, her eyes glistening from un-shed tears as I stood there staring at her blankly, words failing me.

For the third time Susannah turned on her heel and marched away from me, water drops kicking up behind her as she ploughed through puddles. The rain still coming down as hard as before, soaking through my jacket and seeping into my clothes. But I didn't feel the cold then, I only felt the infatuation and devotion I hold for Susannah. I only felt how much I want - _need_ - to feel her in my arms, pressed against my chest; how much I needed to feel my hand on her skin, to see her eyes brighten with yearning as she stared at me and whispered my name on her soft lips.

Coming to my senses I ran the short distance between us and swung her around to face me, her leather jacket slick in my hand as I dropped her arm and held her face between my hands. I caught a glimpse of her surprise in her glowing eyes as I lowered my lips to hers, just as the storm arrived above us; the sky lighting up with the electric show, thunder roaring and clapping loudly enough for Susannah to jump in my arms as I kissed her hard and possessively. It was mere seconds of surprise before Susannah wrapped her small wet hands in my shirt to ground herself as I slipped an arm around her waist, another hand cupping the back of her neck to tilt her head, kissing her with deeper intensity.

Pulling away breathlessly seconds later, I stared down into her glazed, stunned eyes and spoke loudly over the raging storm above us - mirroring the storm of desire thundering through me. "_Querida_, a little girl is _not_ how I see you. Nor will it _ever_ be." Watching her eyes widen fractionally with my statement, she was better prepared when I bent my head to capture her lips again, crushing them to me. I did not hear her moans over the storm, but I felt them reverberate through my chest as I held her close to me, pouring everything I could into my kiss and touch to prove to her just how I feel about her and just how I see her.

No doubt we will argue again soon enough about her methods of dealing with spirits and no doubt she will be mad with me again for believing I am too over-protective. But for now, all I wanted was to love Susannah and be thankful that she was OK and with me where she belongs.

Forever.


End file.
